The man whose face had been smashed flat by a single heavy punch was already seventy, eighty percent healed. Even Chen Xiao couldn't help but glance with a flicker of envy at the man's savage regeneration.
Little Zeus tried to wrench free—then met only an unending hail of fists.
Boom—boom—boom—boom—boom—
His face flushed purple with fury. How could this madman keep hitting an Opportunity without even flinching? "Are you out of your mind?!" he roared. "You can't break an Opportunity! Do you even realize what you're doing? My photograph's time limit is almost up—I'll be free any moment. Nothing you do can kill me!"
Chen Xiao ignored him. He drew a section of ram horn from the Mountain and River Map. There was only one way to deal with a cheating, rule-made defense like that—Ram Head.
Black, writhing strands of magic wound around the horn, an abyssal chill spilling off it. The air tightened; the scene felt suddenly obscene, like summoning something not meant for daylight.
"Mad Ghost Butcher, you know how terrible Opportunities are! They're the Rules' children—you can't fight the things you can't touch!" Little Zeus barked, nerves fraying. "You actually dare—"
Before he could finish, Chen Xiao struck.
The horn's tip flashed black. He didn't use any vortex this time—he brought the horn down in a brutal, bone-shaking arc.
Crash—crack—shudder—each impact warped the darkness, each blow hammered the cyan barrier until the arena itself seemed ready to splinter.
He was insane, everyone watching thought.
Then—like glass under perfect pressure—something shattered. A high, brittle sound ripped through the void. Little Zeus's face, drained of color, went slack.
Outside the photograph's blackness, chaos erupted at the cave mouth. Voices rose in a tide of fear and hope. "What just happened?" "Little Zeus went down? In one exchange?" "That Huaxia man is a monster—he took down Eric, our Free Nation leader!" "Both of them vanished—did they run?" "Run for what? We've got all the seeds down here!"
Whispers spread; the Euro Alliance piped up in defense. "Hey—don't decide yet. That photograph is our secret weapon! Anyone dragged in loses their talents and must fight pure physique. Lord Little Zeus has an SSS-rank physique—this is our win!"
A roar rose from the crowd. Alexander, the bearded Combat Nation fighter Chen Xiao had earlier crushed, stepped forward. "If Little Zeus wins, we needn't fear these Huaxia brats. Charge!"
The heat, exhaustion, and the rising desperation of those trapped below the furnace made the call to action contagious. "We can't stay here and roast!" someone shouted. "We'll break through and take the cave!"
At the cave mouth, Zhang Longqi and Zhao Yuanhang stiffened. The rustle below was growing into a tide; people were climbing, anger spiking. A Yao and Jiang Ling looked pale. Had Chen Xiao really been dragged into that other dimension? Had they been left alone to hold off a furious mob?
"Hold them! Brother Chen Xiao will win!" A Yao leapt down the molten ledges, voice steady, forcing courage into everyone's hearts.
"Opportunities can't maintain independent dimensions for long," Zhang Longqi growled. "Their time limits are usually short." He followed her down. Jiang Ling, too, dropped after them. Zhao Yuanhang hesitated only a breath before joining.
"Righteous words," Zhao muttered. "I just wanted to live. But if this is how it goes—victory or death." He glanced up at the waiting T-Rex on the surface. "If everything fails, we still have the Mad Ghost's trump card."
Suddenly a pillar of blue light shot up from the cave's depths—an arc of intent and fury. "We'll kill every damned Huaxia dog!" someone bellowed. Speed-type awakeners from several camps surged forward; seven of them tore toward the mouth like hurricanes.
Zhang Longqi seized the moment. He invoked his SSS-rank talent, Trembling Earth. The molten rock slabs shuddered and heaved—the perfect counter to swarm climbers.
"Nice one, Brother Qi!" Zhao cheered as a speed-type was shaken off the slabs and dropped two levels. A Yao and Jiang Ling breathed a little easier; the tremors were buying time.
Below, panic unspooled. "Who the hell is doing this? The slabs are moving!" "We can't climb like this!" Voices scrambled for order. Eventually the trapped groups agreed to clear a path and send the speedsters up first—if anyone could break the stalemate, it would be them.
But the cave's defenders were not done. Beams of energy streaked out from below, grazing Zhang Longqi's cheek and scouring either side of the entrance.
"Shit—long-range attacks!" someone hissed.
The scene froze on that note: molten rock and lightning, fists and hunger, a battle for a few meters of sky. The furnace's heat and the desperate will of forty survivors had turned the final stage into a crucible.